The Adventure of the Light-Bearer

CH. 28 - The Living Shadow

Levin ran along the small path with Clea he was carrying. The bright sunlight was covered by the oak trees lining the forest. Clea's small body lightly slammed into Levin's back. "Pe.. Hold on tighter!" levin shouted while running for breath, while Clea shyly clasped her hands hugging Levin's shoulders.

Levin then paused for a moment as he looked at the descent on the path. His breath was breathless tired, he slowly lowered his legs down, and walked slowly due to exhaustion. "Damn, I think I'm too late to stop those kids. I think I was too late from the beginning" he said in his heart.

Levin's eyes opened wide as Clea pointed forward at the swarm of children sitting on the ground. Levin ran towards them. The children were chatting and laughing jokingly, they stopped after noticing Levin and Clea.

"Good day, children" Levin said, smiling at them. He was happy and relieved to know the children had not yet gone to the river.

One of the boys returned Levin's smile. "Good day sir." he replied, while the other children just sat there confused.

Clea then came down from Levin's lap and squatted down towards the little boy in front of him, he pointed towards the village earlier. "Are you from that village? You guys haven't gone to the lake, have you?" clea asked, her eyes looking towards the fishing line bows gathered on the ground.

The boy shook his head, he stared dejectedly at the fishing bows on his side. "We're not fishing" the boy said in a slow voice. "When we were on our way to the lake, we brought the fishing logs together and made the rope twisted. We only realized it when we were here, we then planned to go back home because the rope was difficult to fix." he continued.

Another kid was there and interrupted him. "We will thank you if you can justify the knotted ropes. We actually really want to go fishing right now" said another boy there. Levin walked up to them while putting both of his hands into his pocket.

"It's a shame but you have to go to the village now and stay away from the lake. It was a dangerous lake, you better go home now" said Levin, Clea nodding in approval to Levin's words while smiling at the children, while they were just looking at each other.

Clea then walked over to a child there while squatting down. "Oh yes," he said as he looked into the little boy's eyes and smiled. "Do you know what kind of trouble is going on in that village? We'll help if we can." asked Clea in a soft tone.

The boy nodded small. "Yes. But Mr. Edwin said not to divulge the secret, or else we would be punished." said the little boy. One of the smallest-looking children was standing there.

"Why can't we go to the lake? Our parents have allowed us to fish there, you can't scare us" the little boy told Levin.

Levin raised his eyebrows. "I didn't scare you, go to the village and ask the village chief there himself" Levin said.

Clea then looked towards him and stood up. "Then let's just go back and take them to the village, Levin. We don't have to deal with the problems in the village, we have to go quickly to capital, right?" ask the woman in the vest. Levin shook his head and looked towards the path that led to the lake.

"You... Be careful. We don't know what really happened in that lake, but for sure it's not a good thing. D.. And don't you think I care about you! A.. I'm just... You know, don't know what I should do if you're not around. So come back quickly." said Clea with a reddened face, she then let go of her hand and pulled it quickly.

Levin smiled and placed his hand on Clea's shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll just investigate the lake. Once I figure out what's going on there, I'll go back to the village and get us to Dreydan before dark" Levin said, he then followed the path leaving Clea and the children.

The lake was located not too far from where the children were sitting. After a few minutes of Levin's walking, he could see a large lake stretching out in front. The lake water glittered in the distance, there was no sign of anyone else there, it was very soothing and quiet.

Levin slowed his guard down, thinking that maybe a poisonous snake was causing trouble in the village. His breathing became a little heavy, he could feel a slight tension in his chest, his instincts said to immediately leave that place and look for another safe place, but besides that, another feeling forced him to keep going.

Levin's eyes twitched watching the leaves scattered there, he was worried that there was a snake hidden there. His feet continued to step forward approaching the lake that was calm and spacious. He crouched down and observed the water there, he found nothing dangerous.

"The village chief said about the sick man, could it be because of the water here? But what kind of water would make people growl as horribly as I heard earlier?" levin asked in his heart. He did not dare to put his hand into the water there, he remembered Clea's words not to approach the lake.

Levin's eyes were glued to the lake water reflecting his shadow. Levin was actually just daydreaming there, his mind was floating around and thinking about Clea. His daydream broke as his eyes saw a movement in the murky water. He saw something big black like a catfish dancing there. The shadow grew bigger and longer, to the point that it filled the vast lake.

Levin was stunned, his eyes glaring in horror at the sight he saw. The black shadow was enormous and wrapped around the lake. Something then appeared in the middle of the lake. It was seen that the mouth of an enormous fish opened and closed its mouth as if it was breathing, similar to a golden fish appearing on the surface. It then moved up little by little, and then his eyes appeared. His eyes were round staring fixedly at Levin.

Levin and the creature stared at each other. The creature looked like an enormous golden fish, it opened its mouth shut and its eyes did not move in the slightest staring intently at Levin. It looks like a very long shadow like a snake wrapped around the bottom of the lake that makes the lake look very deep.

Levin gulped his saliva, his legs trembled and he could not move. He retreated back slowly, his eyes still fixated on the giant fish that continued to look at him horribly. His instincts say to run away quickly from the place while screaming in fear, but Levin's logic rejects it, thinking that it will only make the fish panic and attack him.

He just walked slowly back, the creature did not move at all, the creature just stared at Levin like a fish breathing on the surface of the water. After a few seconds they looked at each other, the fish quickly put its head into the lake, its long black shadow and then entered the river following its head. The creature then disappeared without a trace, making the lake calm and quiet again.

end of Chapter :)